Plain creamware bowl

This reconstructed bowl has a raised footring. The hemispherical shape of this bowl (in profile) shows how early English ceramic manufacturers imitated the shapes of Chinese porcelain vessels. The Chinese were the first to drink tea, using bowls without handles. The Davidsonville bowl may be part of a larger tea set that would have included a teapot, cream and sugar containers, cups, saucers, and plates. It probably served as a waste or slop bowl, into which the tea "dregs" would have been poured. Part of a creamware tea pot was also found in the Lot 35 tavern. Archeologist Ivor Noel Hume (1969) found that creamware was the most popular tableware at Colonial Williamsburg. This was at a time when drinking tea was an important social event as well as a light meal.